Envelope machine



Sept. 27, 1955 c. BUDA ET AL ENVELOPE MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledDec. 12, 1951 INVENTORS. W

By M m ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 27, 1955 c. BUDA ET AL ENVELOPE MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledDec. 12, 1951 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 2,718,828 ENVELOPE MACHINE Chester Buda and EmerickMittermaycr, Chicago, 111.,

ass1gnors, by mesne assignments, to Envo-Tab Company, Chicago, III., acorporation of Illinois Application December 12, 1951, Serial No.261,182 1 Claim. on. 9361) This invention relates to envelope-makingmachines; in particular, it concerns a machine adapted for rapidly andaccurately manufacturing tabbed greeting-card envelopes of the typedescribed in the application of Merwin R. Reinschreiber and William I.Russell, Serial No. 246,858, filed September 15, 1951,

In the aforementioned application, a novel envelope and greeting-cardcombination is described wherein the greeting card or the envelope isprovided with an integrally formed removable tab on which a price can beprinted, thus eliminating the necessity for manually folding a price tagover the assembled card and envelope and securing the same thereto witha paper clip.

In the appended drawing we have shown a typical embodiment of ourinvention. Figures 1-4 are plan views showing various stages in themanufacture of a tabbed envelope; Fig. 1 showing an unfolded blank as itmight appear after being cut with a suitable die from a paper sheet,Fig. 2 showing the same blank after the tab has been appropriately cutand scored, Fig. 3 showing the appearance of the blank after the sideflaps of the envelope have been folded inward in the novel mannerhereinafter described, and Fig. 4 showing the appearance of thecompleted envelope after completion of the folding and gummingoperations. Fig. 5 is a front elevation view showing the scoring andcutting element which forms a part of our invention, Fig. 6 is aperspective view of the same element shown in Fig. 5. Fig.- 7 is aperspective view of-a portion of our envelope-making machine, showingthe manner in which the parts of the machine cooperate to achieve anovel result. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the apparatus of Fig. 7.Fig. 9 is a plan view of part of the apparatus of Fig. 7, showinganenvelope blank in the process of passing therethrough. .Fig. 10 is afragmentary sectional view of a portion of the appara us of Fig. 9, thesection being taken along he line of 1010 of Fig. 9.

As may be seen from Fig. 1, a tabbed envelope of the type described inthe aforesaid patent application Serial No. 246,858 may be made from ablank generally similar in shape to the blank used in maki g aconventional envelope, except that one of the notches normally cut inthe sides of the blank is replaced by a tab 21, the shape of which maybe adapted to suit the taste of the designer. Ordinarily, a simplepointed tab of the type shown in Fig. 1 may be used. Blanks such as theblank 20 illustrated in the drawing are normally cut from sheet paperstock with a suitable stamping die.

Fig. 2 shows blank 20 after being subjected to the first phase of itstreatment in our machine; blank 20 in Fig. 2 is similar in shape to itsappearance in Fig. 1 except that fold lines 22 have been scored into itand tab 21 has been out free from the flap 23 along line 24 and has beenprovided with an intermittently perforated junction line 25 removablyconnecting it to the flap 26.

In Fig. 3, the blank is shown as it appears after the side flaps 23 and27 have been folded over and after bottom 2,718,828 Patented Sept. 27,1955 ICC flap '28 has been provided along its edges with a coating ofadhesive gum 29.

Fig. 4 shows the completed greeting-card envelope after the bottom flap28 and the top flap 26 have been folded into position, making acompleted envelope.

The present invention is concerned withapparatus for perforating,cutting, and guiding the tab 21 in the assembly of the envelope. Theother illustrated operationsthe folding, gumming, etc.are conventionalenvelope-making operations which do not form part of the presentinvention.

Referring now to Fig. 7, we have shown therein a perspective view of aportion of an envelope-making machine, including the cooperating rollerswhich place crease lines 22 on the blank. In the figure, I have denotedthe die-carrying roller with the reference numeral 31 and have given itscooperating pressure roller the numeral 32. Roller 31 carries shapedcreasing die 33 provided at one end with a cutting and perforatingmember 34 which forms an important element of the present invention. v

Pressure roller 32 is provided with a suitable pressure drum 35 havingits outer surface formed of rubber or other suitable resilient materialadapted to present a friction surface to the paper blanks and to insuretheir being guided through the rollers without slipping.

The rubber surface 35 terminates at the axial position on roller 32which is slightly inboard of the nearer edge of creasing die 33, and thesurface of roller 32 for a limited zone beyond the edge of the resilientdrum 35 is a hardened steel annular anvil 36 which cooperates with thecutting and perforating element 34 heretofore mentioned. Anvil 36contains a shallow annular groove 36a positioned axially to receivewithin it the edge 33a of creasing die 33. p q

Fig. 5 shows a fragmentary close-up view of one end of creasing die 33,showing the manner in which die 33 and member 34 are related. Theannular creasing edge 33a of die 33 does not cut the envelope blank whenthe blanks pass between the cooperating rollers 31 and 32 because itrides within groove 36a and thus merely imparts a sharp crease 22 to theblank rather than cutting it. The corresponding creasing edges of die 33which form the other creases 22 on the blank 20 crease rather than outthe blank because they engage the yieldable rubber 35. Member 34comprises a perforating blade 37 and a cutting blade 38, both of whichare provided with sharp edges. Blade 37, as may be readily seen fromFig. 5, is disposed angularly inboard of creasing tool'33a. It engagesanvil 36 once during each revolution of roller 31 and, since it trapsthe blank 20 between its own sharp. edge and the hard steel surface ofanvil 36, it cuts into the blank 20 a series of spaced perforations 25.At the same time, blade 38 cuts a clean straight line 24 in blank 20which thereby leaves tab 21 free of blank 20 on three sides and joinedon the fourth side by the perforated junction 25.

Referring again to Fig. 7, we show therein the novel apparatus which, incooperation with the perforating and cutting tool 34, makes possible therapid manufacture of tabbed envelopes. Downstream of the rollers 31 and32, the blanks 20 pass under guide members 39 and over a folding guidemember 40. As may be seen from Fig. 7, guide member 40 presents to theblanks a gradually rising curved surface which causes side flap 23 tofold upward until, when the blank has reached point 40a, the side flap23 has been folded at right angles to the main body of blank 20. Asimilar folding element (not shown) is operative to fold flap 27 in thesame manner.

Mounted in any suitable manner on the guide 39 adjacent folding guidemember 40 we have provided a tab guide 41 which lies on the bed plate 42immediately alongside and slightly ahead of the leading edge of guidemember 40.

(It will be understood that bed plate 42 has been omitted from theperspective view in Fig. 7 in order to disclose clearly the structurewhich lies under and beyond it; the position of bed plate 42 relative toguide member 39 and the rollers 31 and 32 may be seen clearly from Fig.8.)

. The forepart of guide member 40 is cut away on its inboard edge toprovide a forwardly extending projection 42a which slips under the endflap 23 of the advancing blank 20 as it passes between the rollers 31and 32-. Tab guide 41, which may be formed in any desired manner, suchas by a suitable piece of spring-steel wire, rests on bed plate 42immediately inside the cut-back portion of guide 40 which formsprojection 42a. This construction is clearly shown in Fig. 9.

The operation of our invention may be clearly understood from a study ofFigs. 9 and 10. As the blank 20 passes from between rollers 31 and 32,where tab 21 has been formed by the tool 34, end flap 23 of the blank 20passes over projection 42a onto the upper surface of guide member 40. Asthe blank 20 advances, guide member 40 folds flap 23 upward, the flapfolding along the crease line 22 impressed in the blank 20 by the edge33a of the creasing die 33. As the tab 21 advances, however, it isengaged by tab guide member 41 and is held downward against bed plate 42and thus forced to pass under folding guide member 40 while theremainder of blank 20 is passing over it. This action is clearly shownin Fig. 10.

The result of the cooperative action of the tool 34 and the tab-guidingapparatus comprising elements 39, 40, and 41 is to produce a semi-foldedenvelope in the form shown in Fig. 3, wherein the flap 23 has beenfolded inward independently of the tab 21, which remains outwardlyextending as shown therein.

At a later stage of the envelope-assembly operation, the upper and lowerflaps 26 and 28 may be folded inward by conventional means to form acompleted envelope as shown in Fig. 4. The price tab 21 on such acompleted envelope is removably attached to the envelope flap 26,extending outwardly therefrom where it may readily be seen by aprospective purchaser.

It will be understood that the price of the greetingcard-and-envelopecombination will normally be printed on tab 21. The printing operationmay of course be conventional and may be accomplished at any desiredstage of the manufacturing operation. Ordinarily, printing of the tabwill take place on the unprocessed blank 20 prior to cutting andcreasing. That is a matter of choice, however.

While we have in the present specification described in considerabledetail a single embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood thatnumerous modifications thereof may be made by persons skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of our invention. It is accordinglyour desire that the scope of our invention be determined primarily withreference to the appended claim.

We claim:

In an envelope machine for making open side, tabbed envelopes fromsuccessive blanks, each comprising a body, side flaps consisting ofbottom and sealing flaps at opposite sides of the body, end flaps atopposite ends of the body, and a tab forming part at one corner of thebody connecting a side flap with an end flap, in combination, means foradvancing each blank at uniform speed along a definite feed path withthe bottom flap leading and the sealing flap trailing, rotary scoringmeans for acting on the traveling blank to mark a boundary with a foldline, rotary severing and perforating means for dividing the tab formingpart from the associated end flap by a slit and from the associated sideflap by a line of perforations, said rotary severing means andperforating means being secured to said rotary scoring means and theircutting edges disposed at an angle with respect to each other, means forconveying the blank to a folding station so that the tab is disposed toextend outward from the side flap beyond the central feeding zonetraversed by the body and to traverse a portion of the marginal feedingzone traversed by the associated end flap, flap folding means disposedat said folding station and downstream of said scoring means andcomprising a plowshare folder disposed in said marginal zone in positionto intercept a traveling end flap and fold it upward and inward about apredetermined scored fold line and toward a central line of feed, saidplowshare folder at its blank receiving end being spaced outward fromthe fold line to provide an open space through which the tab may bedeflected downward, and a tab depressing finger disposed to extend downinto said open space in position to engage and depress the end flap andtab, said finger being ineffective to depress the end flap beneath theplowshare folder because of the extensive overlap of the plowsharefolder by the end flap but being effective to depress the tab throughsaid open space and to guide it beneath the plowshare folder so that thetab is caused to remain unfolded.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,111,751 Kenny Sept. 29, 1914 1,476,954 Denmire Dec. 11, 1923 1,571,983Weber Feb. 9, 1926 1,581,316 Kienast Apr. 20, 1926 1,583,977 Kelly May11, 1926 1,649,760 Vierengel Nov. 5, 1927 1,839,491 Novick Jan. 5, 19322,108,334 Hayes Feb. 15, 1938 2,113,555 Novick Apr. 5, 1938 2,123,548Sauerman July 12, 1938 2,125,147 Bergstein July 26, 1938 2,217,494 PoppeOct. 8, 1940 2,220,390 Bishop Nov. 5, 1940 2,270,639 Parks Jan. 20, 19422,403,377 Kelley July 2, 1946 2,458,867 Messersmith Jan. 11, 19492,462,513 Kucklinsky Feb. 22, 1949 2,472,521 Danebauer June 7, 1949

